Summer Mercato

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

Just how is our transfer campaign wobbly? We upgraded from an under performing Gila to getting Borriello who scored 19 goals last year. Mind you this upgrade actually netted us +$4 million (we sold Gila for 14 & bought Borriello for 10).

Evidence of an economically driven transfer....Borriello might have scored more last season but when did he ever reach close to double digits?

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

We signed one of the most coveted players this off season in Flamini to sub in for either Gattuso or Ambrosini.

Or Gattuso Or Brocchi Or Emerson.....oh and we did all that for free....imagine if we had to pay for it

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

We signed one of the best FBs in the last 10 years with Zambrotta who can play on both sides and is certainly an upgrade over Oddo.

TBH Oddo looks faster and the mere fact that he was known for the LAST 10 YEARS means that we could/schould have gotten him then....he's mostly NAME now

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

We signed Dinho who is a two time player of the year winner.

Our onllly saving grace......and he is STILL a wild card atm

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

And now as a result of the unforseen injury to Borriello, we are apparently about to get Sheva on a free loan, which is an upgrade on young Paloschi.

Whohooooo let's get trash that we threw out and chelsea obviously don't need....after all we must replace our "world class" Borriello with an EQUALLY (insert adjective of your choice (e.g. 'useless', 'ill suited', etc) striker

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

Aside from getting a world class CB, which we still could get, and a GK (which we should have gotten, but won't), I don't see how Milan's had a "wobbly" transfer campaign...

So tell me are the new flavours better than the old favourites like grape, lemon and strawberry-kiwi ?

What happend with Ronaldo, is he still our player or?

If and only if we get a striker and defender, then I could say confidently that we have gotten our selves the best market we can wish for. I hope the striker is Sheva and the defender be Cannavaro (but he is currently injured so he will most likely not be considered)

We show little respect to our young players
Instead trust them, nurture them and develope, we replace them with used players and send our talents to low placed teams
That is not the way to treat young talents
Now, when we have cash shortage we can introduce couple bright prospect into the first squad, instead hoping that someone will return to top form
Ronaldinho was marketing project, but I don't see the point of engaging Sheva when we can use Paloschi

actually, giving young talents the time to play in lower teams will only help them improve...

if they stay at Milan(or any other big club) they wont get playing time due to the many stars that are starters...

Originally Posted by drucurl

*for more info....prepare yourself for a Beemer Rant

Nope, not today. I'm busy looking at Ceceves' Addams Family avatar.

Originally Posted by BMWTaylor

Nope, not today. I'm busy looking at Ceceves' Addams Family avatar.

It's not the Addams Family!!! It's Galliani!!!

Actually he played the role of Uncle Fester in a small time production in Monza back in the 60's. Why he kept the look I'll never know...Arrigo Sacchi has it going on aswell, though.

Originally Posted by drucurl

Evidence of an economically driven transfer....Borriello might have scored more last season but when did he ever reach close to double digits?

I'm not sure it's such a bad thing that we are improving our team while also being "economically driven". I honestly think Gila in Fiorentina will have a better year than Borriello, but that would never happen with Gila in Milan. Some players just don't play well on certain teams. Borriello looked great last year, MUCH better than Gila. So in my eyes, that was an improvement.

Originally Posted by drucurl

Or Gattuso Or Brocchi Or Emerson.....oh and we did all that for free....imagine if we had to pay for it

Are you saying that just because the guy was free, he won't be great? You don't need to justify a world class player by paying 30 million for him. If anything this is the anti-"wobbly" move. It demonstrates savvy management.

Originally Posted by drucurl

TBH Oddo looks faster and the mere fact that he was known for the LAST 10 YEARS means that we could/schould have gotten him then....he's mostly NAME now

Agreed that Zambrotta's best days are behind him. And this may not have been such a great move considering he cost 9.5 while Vargas, a younger player with tons more upside and one very good year in Serie A went for half that amount. I haven't seen enough of Oddo recently to argue that he's faster, but my problem with Oddo last season wasn't his speed, it was his terrible crosses.

Originally Posted by drucurl

Whohooooo let's get trash that we threw out and chelsea obviously don't need....after all we must replace our "world class" Borriello with an EQUALLY (insert adjective of your choice (e.g. 'useless', 'ill suited', etc) striker

Sheva was ABSOLUTELY NOT trash when he left. He obviously has been terrible in the EPL based on the expectations everyone had for him. But remember, he didn't decline at Chelsea, he sucked from the start which tells you it's more of a situation of his not being able to adjust to the EPL versus him just getting old. If it were a gradual decline, then that would tell you that he's lost it, but the suddeness of his drop in form tells me that he could very well be better if/when he returns to serie A.

Sheva is apparently coming for free with Chelsea paying most of his wages. And at this point, he's replacing Paloschi on our roster. Do you not think that Sheva is better than Paloschi???

Believe me, I get SO FRUSTRATED when Milan act so cheap regarding purchasing players (like when Carlo said that Boruc was too expensive at 10 million). But let's give credit where credit is due - Milan made some amazing moves this summer... as long as they do something in CB

Originally Posted by Russo-Neri

Agreed that Zambrotta's best days are behind him. And this may not have been such a great move considering he cost 9.5 while Vargas, a younger player with tons more upside and one very good year in Serie A went for half that amount.

Actually I just checked. Vargas cost Fiorentina 11 million, so Zambro was in fact cheaper, by 1.5 million. I hope choosing Zambro over Vargas doesn't come back to haunt us (though I suspect it will).

Sacchi's words really summed up Milan's tranfer campaign. This sentence in particular "The feeling I get is that the club almost wants to test Ancelotti, as well as there being no clear plan."

To sum up Sachhi's words, This has been a Flea Market transfer campaign as none of the listed transfer targets were reached and as a consequence Galliani settled for second-hand goods i.e Ronaldinho instead of Adebayor, Shevchenko last gasp effort to bring in a striker,Abbiati instead of a proven keeper, and the best of all, Ambrosini to provide needed cover at the back instead of a quality CB.

I understand Sacchi's sentiments, I made the same argument after the Chelsea debacle about the lack of coordination amongst management. He makes a fair point, the amount the management seem to contradict themselves or each other is shocking. However, if the management do get Sheva we will add depth to a department where we're light (though Sheva isn't my choice). In addition, if we finally get that defender (not just anyone, someone who is starting material), then this transfer campaign can be deemed a successful one. After all, most people said we needed to strengthen these areas:

- Goalkeeper (Abbiati)
- Fullbacks (Zambro, Antonini)
- Central Defence
- Central Midfield? (Flamini)
- Offensive midfield (Dinho)
- Attack (Borriello, Sheva?)

Although many of the players we got aren't the names we were naming here, we have been getting additions for areas which needed work. The only position that's currently lacking reinforcement is CB, which we're in the market for.

From the overall market perspective, we have done quite well and are only lacking one more player for what we need. However, looking at this from the manager's perspective (which Sacchi probably is), it makes preparations for the new season incredibly difficult as there's little direction set out as to how we'll play, so we have to be prepared for any eventuality (which influences training and tactical discussions).

Did you guys see Jankulovski's goal against England yesterday?
amazing..

Yeah, not too bad - hopefully we'll see another one soon!

Sheva to seal Milan move todau

Milan transfer chief Adriano Galliani will dine in Monte Carlo today with his Chelsea counterpart Peter Kenyon to seal a deal for Andrei Shevchenko.

This Rossoneri have been searching for a first striker all summer, but over the past few weeks have become desperate to snap up someone due to the forward crisis they currently find themselves in.

Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato are away on Olympic duty with Brazil, Kaka is recovering from a knee operation, Marco Borriello is injured, while Pippo Inzaghi has only just returned from fitness concerns of his own.

Over the last few days it has been reported that Milan had reignited their interest in former star Shevchenko, and indeed yesterday it was claimed that the Ukrainian was just hours away from completing a return to San Siro on loan.

"We are close to the end of the deal," Rossoneri director Silvio Romaccioni told Radio Goal.

"I hope these little things that have to be done are done as soon as possible."

The Corriere dello Sport now claim that Milan transfer chief Adriano Galliani will travel to Monte Carlo today to dine with Shevchenko and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. They will then move on to one of Roman Abramovich’s luxurious yachts, where the deal to bring Shevchenko back to the Stadio Meazza will be tied up.

The one-year loan will be officially signed, sealed and delivered tomorrow in London, while Shevchenko will probably arrive in Milan on Sunday, or at the latest on Monday.

The 32-year-old is surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge, and was not called up for the first game of the season against Portsmouth on Sunday.

It will be a welcome return for Sheva, who had seven brilliant seasons with Milan from 1999 to 2006, scoring 127 goals in just 208 games, before moving to Chelsea in 2006 for a whopping €45m, where he has been an expensive flop.

Better than nothing I guess, maybe he'll be made to play in defence as well ...

Although I'd prefer it if we sign someone other than Sheva, I just hope it'll be completed today, so that Galliani can focus on bringing in a top central defender. I still hope for either Ivanovic or Thiago Silva (or Zapata - though that's even more unlikely), but it seems from what his agent said, that our interest in this Radoslav Kovac is genuine.

I'm not exactly thrilled about him, though I have very limited knowledge of him. He's not young anymore (28), by no means a big profile, and I have a feeling that a major part of why we're in for him is his versatility, as he can play as a holding midfielder too (which I believe he did against England yesterday).

But the same goes for him as for Sheva: They're better than nothing.

I know Kovac was linked 2 years ago with a few clubs including Inter who were the closest in purchasing him, and his price tag was around 7-8 million.